Dr. Zhouling Zhang

Research Interests

Postdoc Research Projects

01/2025-12/2026 Radiogenic neodymium isotopes, stable silicon & barium isotopes, and rare earth elements in the Indian Ocean (GEOTRACES GI07; funding: BMBF)

09/2022-02/2024 Silicon early diagenesis under the influence of the non-buoyant Rainbow hydrothermal plume (GEOMAR Flexible Fund)

01/2022-04/2024 Radiogenic neodymium isotopes, stable silicon & barium isotopes, and rare earth elements in the South Pacific Ocean (GEOTRACES GP21; funding: BMBF)

07/2021-12/2021 Stable barium isotopes and rare earth elements in the Rainbow non-buoyant hydrothermal plume (cruise M176/2; funding: GEOMAR in-house)

07/2020-06/2021 Stable silicon and barium isotopes in the Congo River plume (GEOTRACES GA08; funding: GEOMAR in-house)

Education:

2013-2019: CSC Joint Doctoral Program (Biogeochemical Cycling of Silicon and Its Stable Isotopes in Estuaries and Coastal Waters):

    • College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, China (Prof. Minhan Dai)

    • (2016-2017) Department of Geology, Lund University, Sweden (Prof. Daniel Conley)

Committee Work:

• GEOTRACES Early Career Scientist (ECS) committee
• SILICAMICS Early Career Researchers (ECRs) consortium

Peer-reviewed Publications

[15] Glock, N., Richirt, J., Woehle, C., Algar, C., Armstrong, M., Eichner, D., Firrincieli, H., Makabe, A., Govindankutty Menon, A., Ishitani, Y., Hackl, T., Hubert-Huard, R., Kienast, M., Milker, Y., Mutzberg, A., Ni, S., Okada, S., Rakshit, S., Schmiedl, G., Steiner, Z., Tame, A., Zhang, Z., Nomaki, H., 2025. Widespread occurrence and relevance of phosphate storage in foraminifera. Nature 638, 1000–1006. doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-08431-8

[14] Zhang, Z., Xu, A., Hathorne, E., Gutjahr, M., Browning, T.J., Gosnell, K.J., Liu, T., Steiner, Z., Kiko, R., Yuan, Z., Liu, H., Achterberg, E.P., Frank, M., 2024. Substantial trace metal input from the 2022 Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai eruption into the South Pacific. Nat. Commun. 15, 8986. doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-52904-3

[13] Cassarino, L., Pickering, R.A., Zhang, Z., Liguori, B., 2024. The Silicon Cycle in the Ocean. Front. Young Minds 11. doi.org/10.3389/frym.2023.1178327

[12] Zhang, Z., Zhou, L., Chen, X.-G., Achterberg, E.P., Yu, Y., Hathorne, E., Steiner, Z., Siebert, C., Frank, M., 2024. Introduction of isotopically light barium from the Rainbow hydrothermal system into the deep Atlantic Ocean. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 625, 118476. doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2023.118476

[11] Zhang, Z., López-Acosta, M., 2023. How Human Activities Are Disrupting the Silicon Cycle. Front. Young Minds 11. doi.org/10.3389/frym.2023.1176391

[10] Cao, Z., Rao, X., Li, Y., Hong, Q., Wei, L., Yu, Y., Ehlert, C., Liu, B., Siebert, C., Hathorne, E.C., Zhang, Z., Scholz, F., Kasten, S., Frank, M., 2023. Stable Barium Isotope Fractionation in Pore Waters of Estuarine Sediments. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems. doi.org/10.1029/2023GC010907

[9] Zhang, Z., Yu, Y., Hathorne, E.C., Vieira, L.H., Grasse, P., Siebert, C., Rahlf, P., Frank, M., 2023. Decoupling of Barium and Silicon at the Congo River‐Dominated Southeast Atlantic Margin: Insights From Combined Barium and Silicon Isotopes. Global Biogeochem. Cycles 37, 1–21. doi.org/10.1029/2022GB007610

[8] Dai, M., Zhao, Y., Chai, F., Chen, M., Chen, N., Chen, Y., Cheng, D., Gan, J., Guan, D., Hong, Y., Huang, J., Lee, Y., Leung, K.M.Y., Lim, P.E., Lin, S., Lin, X., Liu, X., Liu, Z., Luo, Y.-W., Meng, F., Sangmanee, C., Shen, Y., Uthaipan, K., Wan Talaat, W.I.A., Wan, X.S., Wang, C., Wang, D., Wang, G., Wang, S., Wang, Y., Wang, Y., Wang, Z., Wang, Z., Xu, Y., Yang, J.-Y.T., Yang, Y., Yasuhara, M., Yu, D., Yu, J., Yu, L., Zhang, Z., Zhang, Z., 2023. Persistent eutrophication and hypoxia in the coastal ocean. Cambridge Prism. Coast. Futur. 1, e19. doi.org/10.1017/cft.2023.7

[7] Scholz, F., Cheng, J., Zhang, Z., Vosteen, P., Siebert, C., Frank, M., 2023. Benthic-pelagic coupling and isotopic fractionation of barium in Kiel Bight, SW Baltic Sea. Front. Mar. Sci. 10, 1–14. doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1101095

[6] Cao, Z., Wang, D., Zhang, Z., Zhou, K., Liu, X., Wang, L., Huang, B., Cai, P., Dai, M., 2020. Seasonal dynamics and export of biogenic silica in the upper water column of a large marginal sea, the northern South China Sea. Prog. Oceanogr. 188, 102421. doi.org/10.1016/j.pocean.2020.102421

[5] Zhang, Z., Cao, Z., Grasse, P., Dai, M., Gao, L., Kuhnert, H., Gledhill, M., Chiessi, C.M., Doering, K., Frank, M., 2020. Dissolved silicon isotope dynamics in large river estuaries. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 273, 367–382. doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2020.01.028

[4] Zhang, Z., Sun, X., Dai, M., Cao, Z., Fontorbe, G., Conley, D.J., 2020. Impact of human disturbance on the biogeochemical silicon cycle in a coastal sea revealed by silicon isotopes. Limnol. Oceanogr. 65, 515–528. doi.org/10.1002/lno.11320

[3] Wang, G., Wang, S., Wang, Z., Jing, W., Xu, Y., Zhang, Z., Tan, E., Dai, M., 2018. Tidal variability of nutrients in a coastal coral reef system influenced by groundwater. Biogeosciences 15, 997–1009. doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-997-2018

[2] Grasse, P., Brzezinski, M.A., Cardinal, D., De Souza, G.F., Andersson, P., Closset, I., Cao, Z., Dai, M., Ehlert, C., Estrade, N., François, R., Frank, M., Jiang, G., Jones, J.L., Kooijman, E., Liu, Q., Lu, D., Pahnke, K., Ponzevera, E., Schmitt, M., Sun, X., Sutton, J.N., Thil, F., Weis, D., Wetzel, F., Zhang, A., Zhang, J., Zhang, Z., 2017. GEOTRACES inter-calibration of the stable silicon isotope composition of dissolved silicic acid in seawater. J. Anal. At. Spectrom. 32, 562–578. doi.org/10.1039/c6ja00302h

[1] Wang, G., Jing, W., Wang, S., Xu, Y., Wang, Z., Zhang, Z., Li, Q., Dai, M., 2014. Coastal acidification induced by tidal-driven submarine groundwater discharge in a coastal coral reef system. Environ. Sci. Technol. 48, 13069–13075. doi.org/10.1021/es5026867